Lament for a Hero

 

Where is thy spear now, o mighty son of Peleus,
Where is the sword that bloodied the banks of the Scamandrius,
Long and hard you fought below Ilium's wall,
Yet live you did not, to see its fall.

Glory eternal was yours,
O pride of the scions of Danaus,
Reared by Chiron, Lord of Pelion,
You beset your foes like a hungry lion.

Striking fear into their heart,
Though they be protected by many a God's art,
The fires of heaven 'tws that drove you,
To slay many a warrior so true.

Memnon felled, mighty Hector laid low,
Yet even Vulcan's gift stopp'd not that fateful arrow from Paris' bow,
Quenching a light that was a flash so brief,
And leaving many a Dardan's breast heaving with relief.

For the Goddess-born was descended to Erebus,
To join his beloved comrades, Nestor's son and Patroclus,
Mourn for you, did the Danaan host and the sons of Atreus,
And to their war brought thine own offspring, young Neoptolemus.

The spoils were theirs, immortality yours,
To live as long as humanity endures,
Yet till this day we mourn,
Mighty Achilles, where have you gone?
 

~Akshay Khatri~

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*Achilles: Greek Hero; Protagonist of the Illiad
*Peleus: Father of Achilles
*Scamandrius: River of Troy
*Illium: Another name for Troy
*Danaus: Legendary ancestor of the Greeks
*Chiron: Centaur who tutored Achilles
*Memnon: Prince of Ethiopia

*Hector: Prince of Troy; Greatest warrior amongst the Trojans
*Paris: Prince of Troy
*Vulcan: Roman God of Fire
*Dardan: Another name for Trojan
*Erebus: Hell
*Patroclus: Cousin of Achilles
*Antilochus: One of Achilles' greates friends
*Danaan: Another name for Greek
*Sons of Atreus: Menelaus and Agamemnon, leaders of the Greek forces at Troy
*Neoptolemus: Son of Achilles